


Toe Pick

by bluecurls



Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-28
Updated: 2017-12-28
Packaged: 2019-02-23 05:25:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13183257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluecurls/pseuds/bluecurls
Summary: Tony calls it Team Bonding. Darcy calls it torture. Steve has his own ideas abut the outing.





	Toe Pick

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TV_addict_86](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TV_addict_86/gifts).



> I wasn't able to get all of the prompts into the story, but hopefully you'll still enjoy it!

 

Darcy’s reached for the railing, her gloved fingers curling around the cold metal, but she wasn’t quick enough. Her feet shot out from under her and her ass hit the ground hard. Again.

 “That’s it,” she announced to no one in particular. “I’ve had enough.”

She made sure her two-handed hold on the rail was secure before she attempted to get to her feet, well aware that her body couldn’t handle another fall, but a pair of arms on her waist were faster, lifting her easily.

“You OK, Darce?”

Darcy let out a frustrated huff at Steve’s concerned gaze. He was the last person she wanted witnessing her attempt at ice skating. She told Natasha she wouldn’t be good at it. She was the type of person who tripped over nothing. Who the hell thought slapping on a pair of shoes with razor-thin knives on the bottom would change that?

“Just peachy, Rogers,” Darcy lied through her chattering teeth. She was cold. And sore. Her ass was bruised, not to mention her ego. She didn’t need a mirror to know there’s no way the last hour attempting to skate around the rink left her looking as good as Steve did at that moment. The man was the poster child for winter sports. She was pretty sure the look she was rocking was on par with Rudolph’s red nose.

Steve dropped his hands from Darcy’s sides, but wrapped an arm tight around her waist, keeping her steady as she shuffled-skated slowly to the rink’s entry. Her ankles wobbled as she made her way to a bench with a relieved sigh. She pulled her gloves off her hands so she could undo the laces of her skates, but Steve was already crouched in front of her, his long fingers undoing the knots with ease. He wasn’t wearing gloves. Or a hat. He, like Bucky, was dressed in jeans that hugged him in all the right places, but while Bucky paired his with a red Henley and a black hoodie, Steve opted for what Tony called his “Grandpa shirts” – a red-white-and-brown checked flannel – under a navy blue hoodie. “Aren’t you cold?”

Steve shook his head as he pulled the first skate off Darcy’s foot. “I run hot.”

“That you do.”

He glanced up. “What?”

_Shit!_

“Nothing.”

She couldn’t decipher the small grin he gave in response, but he didn’t press the issue. Instead, he unlaced Darcy’s second skate, then magically produced her fur-lined winter boots. She saw his lips twitch as she pulled them on, letting out a moan of pure pleasure at the warmth they provided, but he didn’t laugh. He was nice like that. He was always nice like that. Because he was so nice, Darcy knew her unrequited crush would remain just that: unrequited.

“Are you going back to the tower?” Steve asked.

Darcy weighed her options. She had made the trip to Bryant Park with the others in a caravan of SUVs supplied by Tony for one of their not-as-annual-as-evil-would-allow team bonding activities. The billionaire rented the entire rink for several hours, avoiding any ill well from the public by pre-paying their skating rental fees for the remainder of the season. Darcy pulled her phone from her well-insulated and padded coat pocket to check the time. She had at least an hour to kill. She could ask Happy to drive her back early, but it seemed silly to have the man make an extra trip.

“I guess I’ll watch,” Darcy said as she tucked her phone away and drew her scarf tighter around her neck. Everyone else was having a great time. Tony and Pepper looked like some couple out of a Hallmark movie. Clint and Bucky were showing off for Natasha who was gliding around the rink with ease. Darcy seriously doubted Asgard had ice rinks, but watching Thor move with Jane plastered to his side, she could be wrong. Even Bruce looked like he was enjoying himself and he, according to Tony, tried to avoid fun at all costs.

Steve sat next to her. “Doesn’t seem like a lot of fun.”

She snorted. “More fun than falling on my ass.”

Steve cleared his throat. Darcy glanced over and saw the tips of his ears turn pink as he struggled to say something that wasn’t patronizing or drew attention to said ass. He was adorable. She decided to take pity. “It’s OK, Steve. I knew today was going to be a disaster. I wanted to stay home, but Tony threw a fit of epic proportions.”

Steve chuckled. “All the while insisting he didn’t care one way or the other, right?”

Darcy laughed. Tony Stark could bitch and moan as much as he wanted, but everyone knew he loved having the team, and their partners and partners’ BFFs/lab assistant, all living in the tower. They also knew that to remark on anything resembling human feelings could lead to Ultron-shaped disaster and denial, so they played as dumb as Tony assumed they were.

“Still,” Steve said as he watched his teammates enjoy themselves, oblivious to the crowd of spectators watching from the sidelines, “it doesn’t seem fair to you.”

“No worries. I’ll make him buy me a hot chocolate before we go.”

“From where?”

Darcy bit her lip. She had her pick of places at The Holiday Shops. She checked Yelp and Foursquare and Twitter for recommendations and reviews, but had yet to decide. She got to her feet. Ah, flat ground. She’d never take it for granted again. “I’m going on a hot chocolate reconnaissance mission. You can debrief me when I return.”

A hand on her arm stopped her. “Do you need a partner?” Steve asked. “Solo missions aren’t for everyone.”

Was he serious? He sounded serious, but he was smiling, like he was playing along. “Don’t you want to keep skating?”

Steve shook his head. “I’m not much of a fan.”

“Then why’d you come?” Darcy demanded.

“Because of you.”

The cold had settled in her ears. That’s the only explanation from what she thought she heard Steve say. “Huh?”

Steve stood up. With his skates still on his feet, he towered over her more than usual. Darcy tilted her head back, not minding the view one bit. “I think you heard me.”

Maybe, but that didn’t mean she believed what she heard. “You like me? Like _like me_ , like me?”

Steve nodded. He looked nervous as hell while doing it, but he nodded.

“So instead of saying ‘Hey Darcy, I like you; let’s go get some coffee,’ you decided seeing me nearly kill myself was the best course of action? Aren’t you supposed to be some master strategist or something?”

Steve rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “It’s not a skill that translates to dating.”

“Uh huh.” She crossed her arms over her chest. Seeing Steve clearly out of his comfort zone was entertaining. But she was still cold. And thirsty. And hungry. She'd delay the cross examination until after hot chocolate. “Well, get your skates off, Rogers. We’ve got sugar to consume.”

Steve quickly dropped to the bench and followed her orders. Interesting. She wondered if _that_ was a skill that translated to other areas. There was only one way to find out …


End file.
